Our Ethos

Still family owned, Roger Jury is a 5th generation descendant from the Elliott family, still implementing many of the same manufacturing techniques and virtues his family have practised since 1874, when it was commonplace to ‘make out the back and sell in the front’. Customer service was always personable and often by appointment, by staff who had dedicated years becoming experts in their field. Word of mouth recommendations and the reputation for the quality of your goods was the life blood for the business, just as it is today.

Discover more about this shoe-making lineage in Our History. 

Here at Bowhill & Elliott we are not looking for world domination, or a shop in every city. We are not searching for new machinery to replace the skilled work we do by hand (clicking, lasting and finishing by hand in the workshop).
The aim is the same as it has always been, making slippers to the best of our ability, using traditional methods and delivering the Bowhill experience to our valued customers.

Sharing similar values as many ‘slow wear’ manufacturers, we are the opposite of fast fashion brands, who have been in vogue for the past 30 years.
The Albert slipper design has largely been unchanged since Victorian times in its appearance, yet it is having quite the renaissance, being styled with all manner of outfits – no longer exclusive to lounge and evening attire. It is still as relevant today as it was then, as is always the case with the ‘classics’.
We actively encourage considered purchasing; each pair sold should be seen as an investment, to be worn and enjoyed.
Owing to the cemented sole construction, our house shoes are not sold as repairable, so we have introduced a rubber sole option to give greater longevity and value. The motto to “buy better, buy less” is certainly something we champion.
Most of our styles are sold on a Made to Order basis, resulting in very little waste or excess stock, making only what is needed, or by order.
MTO yields little overstock or waste, meaning we do not participate in a seasonal sale, instead preferring to maintain prices with honest margins all year around.
Complimenting our Made to Order range, we offer a compact Ready to Wear program of our most popular styles. Last minute present buying, a surprise party invitation for the weekend, or if you simply can’t wait the 6 week making time, you need not fear, as we usually have a full size complement of Ready to Wear in stock, on the shelves ready to go.

Offering a full Bowhill & Elliott customer service experience, you can contact us by phone, email, social media, whatsapp or book a private one to one appointment. We are a small dedicated team and will always strive to answer any questions in a considered and in-depth manner.

We try minimising our courier collections to Tuesdays and Thursdays to help reduce our carbon footprint, always looking to accommodate dispatching next day upon urgent requests.
Packaging for mail orders is made from cardboard received from our own delivery intake. Recycling the cardboard, we cut sleeves to protect the shoe box, then wrapping in brown paper, before applying handwritten address labels – we think it’s the little things that make the difference in life.

We are always conscious of how we project ourselves to the rest of the world, trying to maintain the same integrity we show in our manufacturing as we do in our marketing and social media.
We prefer to keep our noise and actions organic, not seeking paid partnerships with influencers who have no relationship with the brand.
Going forward we intend to build direct communication through email including previews, exclusive styles and imaginative content we hope you will find of interest should you sign up and join the club.
Never looking to spam or pester we aim to contact twice a month with relevant information.

As one of the last remaining shoemakers in Norfolk, we take great pride in our local community. If you visit the shop we offer a local price on Bowhill & Elliott products. The local price is designed to attract people to Norwich and visit the city centre, encouraging extra spending in our city’s many independent shops and eateries, stimulating the local economy.